Business Office Reset: Recent Episodes
Jessica Ryals
News from the world of private higher education Business Offices. Tips, tricks, best practices and days in the life of university operations.
Ryan Downs, Director of Institutional Research at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, and Krissta Hadsell outline their shared approach to collecting the data needed for the ACTS Section of the IPEDS reporting, backfilling other duties to make space for that, and cross-campus collaboration through the process.
Ryan can be reached at ryandowns.cfoc@gmail.com
Krissta can be reached at krissta@cfocolleague.com
Jessica Ryals and Scott Spear review articles highlighted in the 1/20/26 CFO Colleague newsletter, highlighting higher education trends from varying perspectives.
Articles Referenced:
https://universitybusiness.com/here-are-5-higher-ed-predictions-for-2026/
https://www.highereddive.com/news/6-higher-education-trends-to-watch-in-2026/809045/
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-college-affordability-debates-get-wrong-on-the-returns-to-college/
Join Jessica Ryals and Scott Spear as they review the first CFO Colleague newsletter articles of 2026, centered around value proposition in higher education.
To subscribe to the newsletter, click here: https://cfocolleague.com/free-resources/
Articles referenced in our talk:
First Article:
https://universitybusiness.com/introducing-impact-how-higher-ed-can-win-the-value-battle/
Second Article:
https://www.highereddive.com/news/7-in-10-employers-have-high-confidence-in-higher-ed-survey-finds/807607/
Third Article:
https://universitybusiness.com/how-academic-programs-can-attract-right-fit-students-in-todays-competitive-environment/
highereducation #higheredfinance #businessoffice
Gabby Parker shares her journey into the world of higher education finance and how her personal experience at the Institute for G.O.D. fueled her passion for the organization's mission. She details the financial hurdles faced by G.O.D. and the Institute, particularly the decline in charitable giving post-COVID.
To combat these challenges, the organization has leaned into an entrepreneurial spirit, developing revenue-generating services and the ProDev program, which provides students with professional experience and scholarships through business partnerships. Gabby also highlights the strategic benefits of outsourcing operations and the development of custom internal systems—including a highly detailed budgeting spreadsheet and a specialized CRM called GrowthOps—to maintain efficiency and financial health without relying on federal funding.
To get in touch with Gabby and continue the conversation, here's her contact info::
Email: gabby@genovationsaccounting.com
* Website:* genovationsaccounting.com
Tony Stemen of Talent Growth Partners talks about his career journey and intersections with higher education, his top tips for recruiting new team members well, and his expertise in threading the needle of what colleges and professionals both want.
Tony's contact info:
Tony Stemen
Talent Growth Partners
Direct: 740-358-2509
Email: tony@talentgrowthpartners.com
Web: www.talentgrowthpartners.com
Ryan Downs talks all things Financial Aid, and offers tips for Directors and counselors alike to provide the best service to our students.
Ryan Downs talks through the current FinAid environment (recorded prior to OBBB passage but still relevant!) and ways for departments to get ahead of the curve.
The auditor relationship is likely the most critical contractor relationship for the Business Office. Jackson Magdy from Forvis Mazars and Scott Spear from CFO Colleague talk about building a great working relationship between client and auditor. From navigating complex transactions to maintaining open lines of communication, Jackson and Scott describe what they've learned working together and ways it can help Business Offices thrive across higher education.
Dave Moja talks us through Form 990 trouble spots, what's going on with the IRS, and the One Big Beautiful Bill: what looks good for higher ed (a little) and what looks hard (a LOT)!
Suahil Housholder of Anderson (IN) talks about life after a missed debt covenant, her research with leadership in distressed institutions, and her team's tradition of "Audit Treats" to get through what could be the toughest time of year with a little fun and whimsy.
Stead Halstead from Bushnell joins Jessica and discusses the successes of his team, freeing them up to better serve customers, and a healthy approach to data.
Great things are happening at Taylor! Stephen Olson, CFO, talks about his experience over a career at the University, what he's noticed about what's going well, his exceptional team, and his tips for other CFOs navigating their own institutional spaces.
Victoria Pierce, Controller at Anderson University (SC) talks about what's going well with her team, her love for Workday, the unexpected blessings of a new, faithful footbal program, and her top tips for other Controllers to thrive.
Happy New Year! We're kicking off 2025 by covering the hottest topics we saw in higher education for 2024. Jessica Ryals covers tips, tricks, and overhauls to cash accounting that can help make bank reconciliation more manageable. Cash is king and the more on top of it we are, the better we're able to support the rest of the institution with their needs throughout the year. Hear her top tips from things you can start today to best practices over time to make your life and job easier!
Stephanie Craig, crisis manager extraordinaire, shares the best kept secret of risk and crisis management: it happens well before the crisis. Join her for insights into the risk landscape of higher education (spoiler alert: it's reputation management!) as well as quick wins your institution can implement right away to have a significant impact.
Aaron Kuecker, President of Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, IL, talks through the nuances of leading through challenging times, building decisions around the mission, and drawing a community together while making tough calls.
Between Academic and Financial Leadership on campus, there tend to be the most employees, biggest reporting structures, and at times, most contentious relationships. We chat with Amy Kovach and Scott Campbell, serving at Mount Vernon Nazarene University as the VPAA and CFO, about the success they've had in collaboration with one another and tips for other CFOs in those important relationships.
Turn the microphone around to talk with Jessica Ryals about approaching the Chart of Accounts for better campus understanding and financial reporting. She provides tips from a full overhaul to small scale changes you can make today that have an impact.
For this series, we're flipping the mic! Scott Spear interviews Jessica Ryals on what she's seeing in the industry. We kick off with bank reconciliations - what's going wrong? What best practices can we implement? And most importantly, what can we change TODAY to have an impact?
Katie Booth talks through Higher Ed marketing, her higher ed career, what's great about marketing and how business offices can better relate to and interact with their marketing team. She offers great tips for using internal and external marketing resources alike!
Continuing our Tough Times series, Jeff Spear talks through some key metrics and ratios institutions can use to measure health over time, and the ways there is hope for the industry if we work toward these metrics going forward.
New series starting on Tough Times in Higher Ed, and we're kicking off with Gary Stocker. He talks through the industry situation, why he sees closures as inevitable, and the availability of his IPEDS-fueled College Viability App for employees and prospective families alike to get a picture of their institutions.
Gary: www.collegeviability.com
Jessica: jessica@cfocolleague.com
Have you ever wanted to pick Dave Moja's brain on the 990? As we finalize 2023 and look to 2024's filings, Dave takes us through the key areas of the form, what to watch out for, and how to spend your time on the most impactful areas. Don't miss Part 1 or Part 2 of our chat!
Dave can be reached at dave@mojacpa.com.
Jessica can be reached at jessica@cfocolleague.com
Have you ever wanted to pick Dave Moja's brain on the 990? As we finalize 2023 and look to 2024's filings, Dave takes us through the key areas of the form, what to watch out for, and how to spend your time on the most impactful areas. Don't miss Part 1 or Part 2 of our chat!
Dave can be reached at dave@mojacpa.com.
Jessica can be reached at jessica@cfocolleague.com
How do we think about the Academic Programs we offer? What do we do with faculty attrition? How can we set ourselves up to have conversations around programs that don't require radical changes? We chat with Scott Spear about new ways to think about resourcing our academic programs through data generosity and collaborative decision making.
Our friends from Credo are back! Sean and Joretta talk through the importance of our financial clearance process as an institution in the student success space, and spoiler alert, the follow on effects on student retention AND cash flow for the institution. A must-listen for every business officer struggling to gain traction on accounts receivable and shining a light on why our students (as well as our employees) need us to take this seriously.
We chat with Victoria Pierce about the intricacies of endowment accounting, making Workday work for their institution (even without the endowment module) and ways to integrate endowment work throughout the year to make year-end more manageable.
We talk with Leah Miller, Director of HR at Kenyon College, about the shifting landscape of HR in higher education, from hiring to onboarding to retaining employees, and ways to shift our perspective to get and keep the right talent.
As we're rethinking higher ed, Jan Haas talks us through ways we can look at what we have as institutions - buildings, faculty, programs - and use them in new ways to serve our communities and continue our mission.
Jeff Spear talks recruitment, financial aid leveraging, and studying who's successful at our institutions to determine who to go after moving forward. This kicks off our Rethinking series to propose new ways of life in higher ed for the new year.
When looking at budget deficits and shifts, how can we approach expense reduction in a way that has the most impact? Jan Haas talks through steps to reducing expenses that have the biggest budget effect with the least amount of campus disruption.
Jeff Spear talks through running an Enterprise vs. Operational budget, using ratios and benchmarks to build a "new" zero-based budget, and campus mindset shifts that allow us to bring about these changes.
Scott Spear talks us through setting up policies and systems to help the budget process, including timelines, the right voices in the room, and follow up through the year.
Dr. Roger Parrott talks fundraising from the President's role, the importance of having a solid fundraising plan as a President, and presenting prospective donors with the opportunity to give
Campus Pastor at Mount Vernon Nazarene University Stephanie Lobdell talks about making space for ourselves in the midst of our work, recent readings that have influenced her perception of work, and tips for taking care that she's found useful.
We talked with Kara Gilliard about keeping our souls in mind - ours as leaders as well as our teams - when working in a business office and meeting the challenges we face there.
Financial Aid professional Wes Brothers talks us through the process of managing HCM2 at an institution, from tips on how to work more smoothly with an analyst to managing cash flow expectations.
We take a deep dive into the Education Department Financial Responsibility scores and methods for understanding the long-term impact of strategic decisions on the scores. We also discuss creative ways institutions are buying time for longer-term solutions to ratio challenges.
Jessica Ryals talks through tips & tricks for smooth accounting for campus construction, including chart of accounts tweaks and best practices for capitalization.
Kevin and Dawn talk project management for a major campus construction project, including engaging key stakeholders, sticking to the plan, and overall ensuring the smoothest experience possible.
Our partners at Credo Higher Education, Dawn Rolling and Dean Rodeheaver, talk about the importance of planning with margin in mind, bringing the whole campus together, and understanding the "why" behind the project.
Heidi Hansen McCrory of Furman University shares her career journey and how she came to have "the best job in the world," her philosophy of fundraising, and her top tips for successfully fundraising for Major Campus Construction projects.
Continuing last week's conversation, we go in-depth on auxiliaires and dining services, how to tell when you might want to outsource, and always taking perspective from the residential student experience.
Jan Haas talks us through the important things to know about the facilities area and ways to build your knowledge even from the Controller's seat. We also touch on the buzzword topic of alternative revenue and some things to bear in mind.
Scott Stewart talks about best practices with investments and endowment policy, Cornerstone's success with a student investment group, and steps to move forward in this area.
After a career in higher education and the banking industry, Ken Lilly shares the #1 tip for CFO's banking (relationship!) and ways to cultivate that. He also talks about some key trends to keep an eye on to keep bankers happy.
Dan Boone describes leadership qualities that make for great relationships between the CFO and key Senior Leadership team members, including the President and Provost.
Drumm McNaughton brings his years of higher education Senior Leadership and Board experience as he describes best practices for governing boards and how CFOs can best manage their relationships with them.
Jeff Spear talks us through the importance of looking forward in the CFO seat, top tips for forecasting, and tools available to make collaborative, group-owned forecasting easier.
We talk with David Tarrant of Dallas Theological Seminary about risk management as a holistic practice, gaining a big picture understanding of institutional risks and analyzing those, and the impacts of "Price is Right" budgeting on our campuses.
Phil Schmitt talks about the kind of staff relationships that lead to succession planning, his journey through succession planning in various roles, and his approach to succession with his staff now.
We talk with Duane Kilty about forming and maintaining on-campus relationships, resourcing staff and others, and building the team you need to get the job done.
Jessica Ryals shares her bio, her new book The Confident Campus Controller, and an outline of series to come in 2023.
Continuing the conversation from Part 1, we cover resourcing employees through major life events, including helpful approaches to policy, as retention strategy and good move for humanity.
We discuss HR strategies to attract higher ed employees and also those to retain them, diving into the complexities of recruiting to a rural environment and providing growth opportunities for all staff across an institution.
Finance & Accounting Recruiter Mike Slane of Robert Half Associates talks through The Great Reevaluation, including benefits and perks candidates want, and approaches to recruiting that lead to success.
Understaffed? Underresourced? We talk with Jan Haas of CFO Colleague about the questions to ask for a right-sized Business Office, the role policies and procedures play, and asking, "what can we STOP doing?"
Mark Biddinger shares successes at outreach from the Business Office to the rest of campus, including sources & uses of funding, summer cash planning, and revisiting donor restricted funds.
Janet Edwards talks about using the technology we already have to break institutional silos with financial reporting, persevering through the time it takes to drive change, and cultivating a variety of viewpoints in the Business Office with new-to-higher-ed and tenured employees.
Rick Mann, PhD talks creating value, resourcing budget owners, moving from tactical to strategic thinking, the faculty of the future, and moving quickly without being in a hurry in higher education.
Janelle Fox talks about bringing a business perspective to the Controller's seat, key questions to ask, and practical steps of living out a Strategic Plan
Tim Fuller talks about data generosity, effective collaboration between Enrollment and the Business Office, and enrollment projection best practices.
We discuss a partnership model of the idea of data generosity where we're not just sharing facts and figures but meaningful stories.
Kara Gilliard joins us to discuss the importance of a cash budget, some "cash budget killers" to watch out for, and best practices.
Joretta Nelson talks about leadership and culture driving student success and retention, examining why students stay, and driving better student and financial outcomes at the same time.
Jennifer Barnes discusses key tenets of grants management, including planning and outcomes, as well as a deep dive into Title III for HBCU's and advice for those new to grants management.
Jan Haas discusses funded depreciation, deferred maintenance, and the importance of a robust capital budgeting model
We discuss looking at an operational budget from the revenue and expense sides, as well as taking a scalpel approach rather than axe approach to cost reductions
We introduce the 4-step Fiscal Planning Progression (FP2) comprehensive budget, and go in-depth on Step 1, the Strategic Budget
Suzanne Davis discusses her role as the Chief Development Officer, leading a data-driven institutional turnaround, and ways CFOs and staff can best support their Presidents.
Deep Dive into what Student Success and student learning look like, cultivating an investment mindset, and seeking the next iteration of higher education moving forward
Santiba Campbell talks about Business Office jargon, grants management (especially Title III Funds for HBCU's), remembering visual learners, the benefit of templates, and more ways the Business Office can support Faculty.
Weylin Burgett, Chief Information and Technology Officer at Kenyon College, talks about the importance of relationships between offices as a foundation for collaboration, the benefits of report writing skills for Business Office personnel, and some key tips for interacting well with IT when seeking help.
Dr. Andrew Permenter, retired VP of Institutional Research and Effectiveness from Southeastern University, discusses the "key to accreditors' hearts" and methods of setting challenging goals for an institution through the accreditation review process.
Kara Clark Gilliard talks through her varied "jungle gym" career, building bridges for HBCU's with best practices and business office infrastructure, tackling accreditation woes, navigating a piecemeal ERP system, and adding non-tuition revenue to a school's portfolio
Jan Haas discusses Net Tuition Revenue vs. the "arms race" of institutional discounting, cash concerns, what new CFO's need to know, and where to go for quick wins on expense reductions.
Jeff Spear talks quantitative management, succession planning, and employee retention, as well as a deep dive comparison of manufacturing cost accounting to higher education analysis.